Learn/Every size
How to resize a video ad
One edit, every shape the placements ask for, with the words and the end card laid out again for each one.
The short answerStart from the edit made for the tallest shape you need, usually 9:16. The picture can be reframed for 4:5, 1:1 and 16:9 if the subject stays in the middle, but the words cannot: lay the captions, the price, the end card and the logo out again for each shape, inside that placement’s safe zone, and check every cut on a phone before it goes for approval.
- Footage can be reframed; text cannot. Keep words off the picture so each shape can place them again.
- A 4:5 cut from a 9:16 edit keeps 70% of its height; a 9:16 cut from a 16:9 edit keeps 32% of its width.
- On Instagram Stories and Reels, Meta asks you to keep 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side clear.12
- TikTok’s safe zone changes with the length of the ad’s caption, so check it against TikTok’s own template.4
On this page
A video set is the same resize job as a still set, with two differences. The picture moves, so what sits in the middle of the frame changes from second to second. And words arrive and leave over time: a caption that clears the safe zone at second two can be covered at second nine. Both are why a video is not resized by reframing the whole file and exporting it again.
- The finished edit, and its project file if you can get it, so the text sits on its own layers.
- The list of placements from the media plan, and the length each one allows.
- The brand’s end card, logo and caption style, as files rather than burned into the video.
Step 1List the placements and the shape each one wants
Write down every placement in the plan with its shape, size and length before you open the edit. These are the platforms’ own numbers today.
| Placement | Shape | Size (px) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels1 | 9:16 | 1440×2560 | 0 seconds to 15 minutes |
| Instagram Stories2 | 9:16 | 1440×2560 | Under 16 seconds plays in full; longer may be split into cards |
| Facebook Feed3 | 4:5 | 1440×1800 | 1 second to 241 minutes |
| TikTok in-feed, vertical4 | 9:16 | 540×960 or larger | Up to 10 minutes |
| TikTok in-feed, square4 | 1:1 | 640×640 or larger | Up to 10 minutes |
| YouTube video ads5 | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 | Not listed | Not listed |
Google says vertical video is best suited to Shorts, and that ratios between 16:9 and 9:16 are allowed.5 TikTok also takes horizontal 16:9 at 960×540 or larger.4
Two rows decide most of the work. Stories plays a video under 16 seconds in one go, so a 30-second edit made for Reels needs a shorter cut for Stories, or it will be split.2 And the shapes come in three families: tall (9:16), near square (4:5 and 1:1) and wide (16:9). Each family is one cut to make, however many placements share it.
Step 2Start from the tallest edit, and keep the subject in the middle
Make the master edit for the shape most of the plan uses, which on Meta and TikTok today is 9:16. Then work out what each other shape keeps of it. A 9:16 edit at 1080×1920, cut to 4:5 at full width (1080×1350), keeps 1350 of 1920 rows, 70% of its height. Cut to 1:1, it keeps 1080 rows, 56%. Going the other way is far harsher: a 9:16 frame cut from a 16:9 edit at 1920×1080 is 608 pixels wide, 32% of the picture.
| Edit made at | Cut to | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| 9:16 (1080×1920) | 4:5 (1080×1350) | 70% of the height |
| 9:16 (1080×1920) | 1:1 (1080×1080) | 56% of the height |
| 16:9 (1920×1080) | 1:1 (1080×1080) | 56% of the width |
| 16:9 (1920×1080) | 4:5 (864×1080) | 45% of the width |
| 16:9 (1920×1080) | 9:16 (608×1080) | 32% of the width |
Worked out from the pixel sizes in each row.
That is why the tall edit goes first: cutting a tall edit down to square loses top and bottom, where the sky and the floor usually are, while cutting a wide edit down to tall loses two thirds of the frame. Shoot and cut with the subject in the middle third, and check the moments where it moves to an edge: those are the shots that need reframing by hand in the square and wide cuts.
Step 3Lay the words out again for each shape
Captions, the price, the logo, the end card and the legal line are not part of the picture, and a reframe that crops the picture will crop them too. Keep them on their own layers in the project, then place them again for each family of shapes:
- Tall (9:16): captions in the middle band of the frame, the logo below the top band, the price and the button above the bottom band.
- Near square (4:5, 1:1): the edit’s own placement usually works; check that a caption on two lines still clears the subject’s face.
- Wide (16:9): captions at the bottom, shorter lines, and the end card laid out as a row rather than a stack.
| Placement | Keep clear at the top | At the bottom | Each side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels and Stories12 | 14% | 35% | 6% |
| TikTok in-feed4 | Depends on the caption | Depends on the caption | TikTok template |
| Facebook Feed3 | None listed | None listed | None listed |
TikTok publishes its safe zone as downloadable templates, and says the zone depends on the ad’s shape, its caption length and any extra formats.4
On a 1440×2560 Reel, 35% of the height is 896 pixels: everything the viewer must read sits above that line, with the bottom band left to the caption and the call to action the platform draws there.
Step 4Cut the length each placement plays
A resize is also a change of length. Make the shorter cuts from the same edit by removing whole shots, never by speeding the video up, and keep the same order of ideas: the opening, the product, the offer, the end card.
Step 5Watch every cut on a phone
Play each cut through once on a phone, with the placement’s interface in mind, before anyone signs off. Mistakes in video hide in time, not in the corner of a frame, so watch it rather than scrubbing.
Common mistakes
- Reframing the whole video with its words burned in.The captions and the end card get cropped with the picture.
- Making the master edit wide.Every tall cut then loses two thirds of the frame.
- Exporting one long cut for Stories.Anything 16 seconds or longer may be split into cards the viewer has to tap through.
- Checking a frame instead of the whole cut.A caption that clears the band at the start can be covered later in the video.
Open the edit and choose Resize. eonik lays out each shape again around the same parts, and shows every size side by side for you to check before it makes them. Change a line in one, and you can apply it to every size at once.
See Resize →Questions
Can I use one 9:16 file for Reels, Stories and TikTok?
Often, yes: all three are 9:16. Check two things first. Stories plays under 16 seconds in full and may split longer videos, and TikTok’s safe zone depends on the caption you write, so a layout that clears Meta’s bands can still sit under a long TikTok caption.24
Do I need a 16:9 cut at all?
Only if the plan runs it. Google lists 16:9 beside 9:16 and 1:1 for video ads, and says vertical video is best suited to Shorts. If no placement in the plan is wide, there is no reason to make a wide cut.5
Should captions be burned into the video?
Not in the master. Keep them on their own layer until every shape is laid out, then export each cut with its own captions placed for its shape. Burned-in captions from the master end up under a band or off the edge in the other shapes.
Sources
- Video ad specs on Instagram Reels, Meta Ads Guide. 9:16, 1440×2560, the same safe zone.Checked 25 Oct 2026
- Video ad specs on Instagram Stories, Meta Ads Guide. 9:16, 1440×2560, the safe zone, and videos under 16 seconds playing in full.Checked 26 Oct 2026
- Video ad specs, Facebook Feed, Meta Ads Guide. 4:5, 1440×1800, and no safe zone listed.Checked 26 Oct 2026
- TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads, TikTok Ads Help Center. Vertical 9:16 at 540×960 or more, square and horizontal sizes, and a safe zone that depends on the caption.Checked 26 Oct 2026
- Video ads specs and format requirements, Google Ads Help. Horizontal 16:9, vertical 9:16 and square 1:1, and vertical video for Shorts.Checked 26 Oct 2026